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Light Years Away

Original title: Les années lumière
  • 1981
  • 1h 45m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
605
YOUR RATING
Light Years Away (1981)
Drama

A young drifter meets up with a strange old man who claims that he has been taught to fly by birds.A young drifter meets up with a strange old man who claims that he has been taught to fly by birds.A young drifter meets up with a strange old man who claims that he has been taught to fly by birds.

  • Director
    • Alain Tanner
  • Writers
    • Daniel Odier
    • Alain Tanner
  • Stars
    • Trevor Howard
    • Mick Ford
    • Bernice Stegers
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    605
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Alain Tanner
    • Writers
      • Daniel Odier
      • Alain Tanner
    • Stars
      • Trevor Howard
      • Mick Ford
      • Bernice Stegers
    • 7User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 2 nominations total

    Photos5

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    Top cast13

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    Trevor Howard
    Trevor Howard
    • Yoshka Poliakeff
    Mick Ford
    Mick Ford
    • Jonas
    Bernice Stegers
    Bernice Stegers
    • Betty
    Henri Virlojeux
    Henri Virlojeux
    • Lawyer
    Odile Schmitt
    • Dancer
    Joe Pilkington
    • Thomas
    Louis Samier
    • Trucker
    Johnny Murphy
    Johnny Murphy
    • Man in bar
    • (as John Murphy)
    Gerard Mannix Flynn
    • Drunken boy
    • (as Mannix Flynn)
    Don Foley
    • Cafe owner
    Gerry O'Brien
    Gerry O'Brien
    • Bar owner
    • (as Jerry O'Brien)
    Vincent Smith
    • Cop
    Gabrielle Keenan
    • Girl at village dance
    • Director
      • Alain Tanner
    • Writers
      • Daniel Odier
      • Alain Tanner
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews7

    7.2605
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    Featured reviews

    rkc444

    Lightyears Away in an incredible film, which for some reason is sadly unavailable in the USA

    First of all, this film is NOT in French. The director is Swiss, French speaking, but Lightyears Away was filmed in Ireland, with Trevor Howard and Mick Ford speaking English, along with the rest of the small cast. This film is essentially about a Zen master-pupil relationship. Howard is at his cranky best. The cinematography is outstanding, somehow capturing the haunting beauty of the Connemara Peninsula in County Galway, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland.

    Does anybody know where I can track down a copy of it? DVD would be great.
    10Joropukki

    Learning to Fly Gets Under Your Skin

    This movie is incredible. I'd like to have it on DVD, but still it might take me some decades to watch it again. I've seen it four times in the 80s and 90s when it crept under my skin and stayed there. I remember every scene, yet I wonder what is memory and what was truly shown. Is it really there - or just memory-DVD? Such a simple story, a wayward son meets with a rural guru and gets carried away. I'd like to think that my early access to Gurdieff's writings made this film more accessible and comprehensible to me but even without the guru's ideas I'd get carried away. Awesome work. Two decades after seeing the movie I catch myself thinking about the pig and the birds. Were they properly taken care of? Makes me think why I like Predator and South Park. Why did I originally give it 9 pts? Must reconsider and give it full marks.
    10finye

    Dealing with a man suffering from disorders

    i ave seen this movie 14 times this is indisputably a masterpiece no one can deny that but unfortunately this film is not available in lots of countries this movie is about

    a young man who starts a relationship with an old man who can fly(he says)

    in my opinion at the end of the movie he FLYS !

    he reached redemption it deals with man struggle with himself it show lots of new human being's problems in this dirty world so he becomes this enfranchised and feels not a part of society he decide to build his own world but the power of these filthy human being are more than him so decides not to be in this world
    10vancehn

    One of the best movies which shows man struggle with himself

    If you EVER get the chance to see this, take it and let yourself be surprised. Of al the movies that handle this subject is this the one that sets the standard. Never have I seen a movie which is so well filmed, acted and produced on this subject as this one. If only someone would take it on himself to have this produced on VHS. The world is at a loss without this.
    10Lolita S

    A journey to the center of the self

    If you ever have the opportunity to watch this movie, do not miss it! I have seen it four times, between 1980 and 1986, and I wish I could see it again, but it is not available to rent. Jonas'creator Alain Tanner leads us in this movie through Daniel Odier's wonderful metaphorical story of a simple young man, who decides to say yes and go to encounter his redemption. An opportunity to see how the relationship between two completely different men develop in beautiful and tender scenes and without noticing it to reflect about what to be human is all about...

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      This was Alain Tanner's first feature film in English.

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • May 20, 1981 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • Switzerland
      • France
    • Official sites
      • Director's official site
      • Swiss Films page
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Lichtjahre entfernt
    • Filming locations
      • Dublin, Ireland
    • Production companies
      • Gaumont
      • Les Productions Audiovisuelles
      • Phénix Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 45m(105 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

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